Corrosion Resistance for Dredging Equipment

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Corrosion Resistance for Dredging Equipment

By Stephen Rutherford, Caterpillar OEM Solutions Sales Manager

In the dredging and water-based infrastructure industries, we need to continually watch for areas where standard equipment might suffer in harsh marine environments. At Caterpillar, we're working to help our customers identify readily available and cost effective corrosion resistance solutions so that they can realize measurable improvements to their machine reliability and durability in these applications. Combining these measures with rigorous maintenance schedules optimizes on-the-job uptime, which has a positive effect on not only project deadlines but also machine life in the long run.

By identifying possible issues early on, we can work to implement improvements either with an OEM during the design and building stages of the equipment, or by working with the customer to develop creative post-delivery corrosion resistance solutions for their specific job sites. It's important to work closely with the customer and truly understand their needs in order to determine what level of corrosion resistance measures are needed - from simply a quality paint solution all the way to custom modified equipment.

If you'd like to learn more about corrosion resistance in earthmoving machines and viable modifications for marine environments, please download our white paper (to the right of this page) for an overview. You can also access the presentation I gave recently at the 2017 WEDA Dredging Summit & Expo in Vancouver on this topic.

Two examples of some of these techniques in practice with Cat® equipment can be found in the Cat 972M Corrosion Resistant Wheel Loader and the Cat D7E Dozer Dredging Arrangement. Brochures for both products with details on the added corrosion resistance and protection features can also be found to the right of this page.

I would love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, and any questions you may have about corrosion resistance issues in the dredging industry - send me an email at HMS_solutions@cat.com.

Stephen Rutherford

Sustainability is one of our core values in action that we try to demonstrate every day. We’re not talking about just economic sustainability, but also environmental sustainability. We believe that’s really the only way to conduct your business, and dredging and marine construction is such an excellent opportunity to demonstrate that.

Have an idea? He would love to hear about it. Connect with Stephen on LinkedIn or email him at HMS_solutions@cat.com!